Chronic refractory myofascial pain: Characteristics of patients who self-select long-term management with Electrical Twitch-Obtaining Intramuscular Stimulation J. Chu*, I. Schwartz , S. Schwartz.

Accepted for publication in the International Journal of Physical Medicine and rehabilitation. May, 2013

*Jennifer Chu, MD, Inventor and Founder CEO of eToims Medical Technology, USA and UK is Emeritus Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Ira Schwartz, MD, PhD is former Assistant Professor, Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. There are no conflicts of interest. Stanley Schwartz, M.D., is Emeritus Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. There are no conflicts of interest.

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Chronic refractory myofascial pain: Characteristics of patients who self-select to undergo longterm management with Electrical Twitch-Obtaining Intramuscular Stimulation J. Chu*, I. Schwartz , S. Schwartz.

Accepted for publication in the International Journal of Physical Medicine and rehabilitation. May, 2013

Abstract Introduction: Noninvasive Electrical Twitch-Obtaining Intramuscular Stimulation (eToims) is safe and efficacious in long-term management of chronic refractory myofascial pain (CRMP). Objective: To evaluate factors influencing patient self-selection for long-term eToims management of CRMP. Methods and materials: Included were 133 consecutive CRMP patients (65 males, 68 females) who opted to pay for eToims treatments between 12/1/09 and 12/31/11. Each session involved treatment to large muscles of C3-C7 and L3-S1 myotomes. Outcome measures include immediate pre&post-treatment session visual analogue scale (VAS), symptomatic (S) and asymptomatic (A) side range-of-motion (ROM): for neck rotation (NR), shoulder external rotation (ER), shoulder internal rotation (IR), straight leg raising (SLR) and FABERE (FAB). Analysis performed by grouping results as follow: Group0: =2. Safety precautions include interval history and vital signs before and after treatment.

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Results: Groups 0& 1 comparison showed no measured ROM difference. Group 3&Group 2 comparison demonstrated shorter interval between treatments (15+47 vs. 138+167 days respectively, p